Monday, February 24, 2014

The road of IT Corridor,
OMR bustles with traffic – vehicles of all hues – 2 wheelers, autos, spanky
cars all vie with Volvo buses and vans and more…. Signs of a busy area – many
IT & ITES companies – rich World – trendy dresses, ears-plugged n swaying
to music, happy people all earning great salaries – many wonder ! but is the life pleasant and peaceful and more importantly safe ? One
needs to ponder…

The
ghastly death of a 23 year old techie is in news and that throws open lot
of Questions ! in a Metropolis brimming with floating
population, crimes do get reported … but this murder is to be not seen as an
isolated incident and there is imperative need for action from many
fronts.

In what would remind one of some film stories, 23 year old B. Uma Maheswari, a software
professional with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) at the SIPCOT IT Park in
Siruseri, went missing on the night of Feb 13 and a few days later the
decomposed body was found in a bush
hardly 200 hundred metres from her office. A Police official is reportedly suspended and
news reports suggest that Kancheepuram police met with officials of five IT and
BPO firms and urged them to tighten security, especially for women employees.
Police officers issued a set of instructions to the companies which included
posting armed guards, installing security cameras, ensuring that woman
employees working night shifts take only office cabs with security guards to
return home. The officers also suggested that companies note details of cabs
and autorickshaw drivers that enter their officers to pick up employees. They
asked the companies to check the antecedents of drivers they hire. Women
employees should not travel alone, even by office transport, but be accompanied
by a colleague, they said.

IG Manjunatha told TOI that police would start patrolling
the locality regularly and said he had requested that a police outpost be set
up in the area. TOI report states that the knee-jerk response to the murder did
not impress all the company officials and employees blamed police for poor
patrolling that allows strangers to lurk around on roads at night. They said
there had been an increase in crimes against women in the area because of lax
policing. It
is common sight that not all are provided with transportation and many are seen
walking in the main road, waiting for public transportation, travelling by
crowded share-autos; the Railway stations at Perungudi, Tharamani,
Thiruvanmiyur … are overfilled with heads in the peak hours.

Some say with sadness that Kelambakkam police did not
attach any seriousness to the ‘missing person’ complaint by the father of Ms
Uma. Reports suggest that the post-mortem revealed
stab injuries in her stomach and abdomen, and the police have registered a case of murder. The
personal details of the person, that she was native of Attur in Salem,
graduated and was hired in Campus recruitment, joined the Company and was at
Siruseri are of little relevance. It is stated that she was last seen leaving
office at 10.10 p.m. on February 13, which was recorded on a CCTV camera at the
facility. reportedly she took permission
and left early than usual but sadly never reached the rented home at
Medavakkam, which she shared with two of her colleagues.

This gruesome murder to new to Chennai but
is not totally unheard of for the Nation. There had been
crimes against working women, especially who have to work late shifts – at the
Nation’s Capital, Bangalore
and in a couple of other places. A couple
of years back, Delhi Police mandated that BPOs, Corporates and Media houses
should drop their women employees at their homes during night hours and also
confirm their safe arrival. It also made
compulsory that a security guard should
accompany the woman employee to her residence and ensure her safe arrival if
the office vehicle cannot drop her right outside her house. The Police further added that the cab drivers should not pick any stranger or
stray away from designated routes. They
further suggested selecting the routes in such a manner that as far as possible women employees
are not the first to be picked up or the last to be dropped.

The instruction also asked the employers to
maintain a database of all employees, security personnel, cab drivers and
contractual workers, which the police could access, besides hiring security
personnel and other contractual personnel as far as possible from licensed
agencies only.

It may never be possible for Police to provide individual
security …. It makes sense for all concerned to be concerned about the safety
aspects always…. Coming to work and having to work at odd hours is a reality ….
Long travel from workplace and residence is another…… ..in between – the
Companies and the individuals need to strategise and plan practically – the
mode, time and accompaniment of travel – leaving nothing to choice – after all,
safety is the most important aspect and one cannot dangle with danger even for
a short while.

Sad
the life of a techie was brutally snatched away ~ the culprit may be found –
may or may not get proper punishment – may be by some quirk, even the
offender’s punishment may get curtailed ~ the techie may never come again, the
pain and suffering of the poor parents may never heal ~ we all will pray for
the departed soul – more importantly, plan and ensure that such a ghastly
incident is never repeated.